Judge Paolo Adinolfi went missing in Rome in 1994.
A search got under way at a jazz venue in Rome on Thursday morning as part of an investigation into the disappearance of a judge in the Italian capital 31 years ago.
Police with sniffer dogs were concentrating their search on a network of tunnels under the Casa del Jazz, a cultural landmark that was once owned by a top member of Rome’s notorious Magliana crime gang.
Judge Adinolfi
The search relates to Judge Paolo Adinolfi who disappeared on 2 July 1994 after leaving his home on Via della Farnesina and telling his family that he would return for lunch.
Over the intervening three decades, there have been numerous theories regarding the mysterious disappearance of Adinolfi, who was then aged 52 and had recently been promoted to the court of appeal.
In a previous role, however, Adinolfi had handled important cases through the bankruptcy courts, including those with possible ties to local crime.
Casa del Jazz
Today’s Casa del Jazz is a 1930s-era villa on expansive tree-filled grounds opposite the ancient Aurelian Walls and near the start of the busy Via Cristoforo Colombo road.
Formerly known as Villa Osio, the property was seized in 1996 from Enrico Nicolleti, allegedly the ‘treasurer’ of the Banda della Magliana, and was confiscated definitively in 2001.
Rome city council subsequently restored the property and transformed it into a cultural centre dedicated to jazz, which opened in 2005.
Search
Police at the site have begun to inspect and excavate several unexplored tunnels, presumably dating back to the Roman era, according to newspaper Corriere della Sera.
Some of the tunnels are known, while others are still uncharted, with experts from Rome’s archaeological superintendency reportedly at the scene as police begin to dig.
The search follows suspicions raised by former magistrate Guglielmo Muntori and the discovery of a tunnel sealed for the last 30 years, according to Italian news reports.
Photo ANSA
